Ed's Christmas Gift
by TABIL
Summary: The Ed's are older now and are invited to Nazz's Christmas Eve Party and our lovable Ed's confession really strikes the heart of someone he holds dear. ...SLASH. No ready if you don't likie.
1. Off to the party!

**Description:** It's Christmas Even and the Eds are invited to a party over a Nazz's, just like every year, only this time things will be different. This takes on in the future when the Eds are older teenagers and are about to finish school. 

**Warning:** SLASH! Lots of it. Do not read if you don't like it.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Ed, Edd, n' Eddy.

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**Ed's Christmas Gift!**

**Written by Lor and Tiffy**

Tis the season to be an Ed, especially in Eddy's scenario, waiting in the halls of Peachcreek High, waiting for his next victim to fall in trapped for one of his half-witted scams he created himself. Eddy stood there, moaning impatiently as students wandered on by his stand of fabricated merchandise, also known as crappy ornaments that he put together. "C'mon, everybody! Custom-made ornaments, only five dollars and seventy-five cents!" He announced in a fake captivated tone, but no one payed any mind to him. Eddy growled in his throat at this and muttered cursings under his breath as he kicked the his stand.

Edd, looking as nerdy as ever in a sweater vest and a little bow-tie, tsked over the top of his biology textbook that he was reading for the fourth time at Eddy. "Don't swear," he chided. "And don't kick that thing again or you'll knock it over, and some of those ornaments are nice. You know, the ones that Ed made. Without your face drawn on them. That you drew when you should have been studying for that test you failed this morning." Edd shook his head a little and turned his attention back to reading about whatever it was that was five chapters ahead of everyone else.

"Bah. Studying." Eddy argued. "I HATE STUDYING, DOUBLE-D!" He then frowned at his intellectual friend. "And quit reading that damn textbook!" He then went over and snatched it way from him and held it high in the air, for you see Eddy had grown quite a deal and is now taller than Edd. "You should be helping me sell these damn things, not be sitting here reading this crap, genius!"

Edd made a noise of protest as suddenly the intestinal processes of obscure insects was gone from his field of view. He frowned and waved his hands in vain at the book out of his reach. "Eddy! Give that back! I like reading it!" He jumped up and down a little and made another angered noise

Eddy smirked at his friend and said; "NYAAH-HAH! Not in chance, Double-Dweeb. You're gonna help me sell these things whether you like it or no--HEY!" Eddy shouted as the text book was taken out of his hand by none other than "tall and lumpy" himself. Eddy growled as Ed gave him a disappointed look. "You shouldn't be mean to Double D, Eddy, nor should you take his book away." Eddy glared at his tall friend and huffed as he went back to his stand. "Whatever, Lumpy." "Okay, Eddy." Ed replied and went over to Edd, smiling. "Here you go, Double D. Here's your book back." And he dusted it off and handed it right over to him.

"Thank you, Ed," Edd said, flipping the pages of the book, squinting. He gasped and held it up in Eddy's face. "You BENT half of chatper nine! You, you.. you mean person!" He huffed and pouted at the book, then looked up at Ed. "Hello, Ed. Where have you been? I've been stranded here with Eddy for twenty minutes."

Ed looked at Eddy who had a bored look on his face, then looked at Edd and smiled. "Oh, I was just talking to my dance teacher, Double D. He said I did great on the dance we did last weekend for the Holidays." "Oh brother." Eddy commented in the background. "You and those gay dance lessons. Ballet is for girls!" Ed looked at him and frowned.

"Eddy," Edd said, giving their loud friend a quirked eyebrow that meant 'don't start this again'. "I think it's wonderful that Ed has something he enjoys. Besides, ballet is a fabulous way for him to express his creativity. You always have to go and crush his dreams, don't you?" He flipped the pages of his textbook again and continued. "Like the time you said his drawings weren't good and you made him cry."

Eddy scowled at him and retorted "What are you talking about, Sock-head! They do suck! I mean, c'mon! Who wants to see God-knows-what with Santa hats on ornaments! I tell you, I don't!" And he threw one down onto the gray drab tiled floor, which landed at Ed's feet and shattered into many shards and pieces. Seeing this, Ed's lip began to quiver and tears began to form out of his eyes and thus the hysterical sobbing began. "Oh, brother." Eddy said in annoyance.

Edd gasped and clapped a hand to his mouth when the ornament shattered on the floor. He turned and glared at Eddy. "EDDY, I'm ASHAMED of you! You apologize to Ed right now!" He looked at Ed and his expression softened. He put his textbook down and put a hand on his tall friend's shoulder. "Ed," he said. "Ed, it's okay. That ornament looked like Eddy's face, anyway." He patted Ed on the shoulder and reached up to wipe a tear off the other boy's face. "Come now Ed, don't cry."

Ed shook as he looked back down at the broken ornament. "B-b-but I put my heart into it, Double D! I put my heart into it!" He wrapped his arms around Edd and clung to him, sobbing onto his shoulder. Eddy looked at him and rolled his eyes. "Gee, Ed. It's just an ornament for Pete's sake. A rather shitty one. Get over it." Ed's bottom lip quivered even more and squeezed his eyelids tightly shut, trying hard to hold the tears in.

Edd glared sideways at Eddy again and gave Ed a comforting pat on the back. "It's alright, Ed, you can make a better one. You can make a much better one, and I promise I'll put it in the best spot on my family's tree, okay? Would you like that?" He smoothed the taller boy's hair and patted him on the back again.

Ed sniffled and then smiled with utter glee and chirped at his friend as he pulled him into a tight, yet, gentle hug. "THANK YOU, DOUBLE-D! THANK YOU THANK YOU! I'LL MAKE YOU THE BEST CHRISTMAS-Y GIFT EVEEEEEEER!" He smiled some more and kept hugging his nerdy friend up close.

Edd smiled and ruffled Ed's hair with the hand that wasn't pinned to his side by his friend's hug. "Thank you, Ed. I'm sure it will be very lovely." He wiggled his fingers on his other hand, to make sure they weren't numb, and spoke again. "What would you like me to get you for Christmas, Ed?"

Ed kept hugging him close, still smiling, but then had a little bewildered look on his face, eyes rolling up to the top as if he was putting real thought into it. "Weeeeeell...hmmmmm..." He then paused some and said "I think I know want I want!" He smiled at his geeky little friend. "I want--" "A chin!" His other bossy friend interrupted and started laughing foolishly at Ed's on expense.

The geeky friend frowned at Eddy for probably the 20th time in the past hour. "Eddy! We've been over this, no being rude to Ed! You know he's sensitive." He stuck out his lower lip in a mock-pout that was trying to relay the message of "STOP IT" but would probably only get some "fat lip" joke from Eddy in response. "..And move your feet! You're standing on my textbook!"

Eddy snorted and took stepped down off of the hardback book. "Well, soooorrrrr-eeeee! Jeez. Why don't you just marry the guy." He then grumbled under his breath about Edd being whiny at him. Ed smiled at that thought. Married. Not just married, but married to Double D, such thoughts made his heart turn into goo and made his inside feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Ed sighed quietly to himself and found himself staring at Edd, who wasn't paying any mind to him. The tall teenager felt his smile broaden as well as his desire to hug him real close once more, but then he felt someone grab his arm and turned him around.

Edd frowned at Eddy still. "Immature jokes again, Eddy? I didn't know caring about my friends was against the rules, but I guess if it's not 'popular' enough for YOU, neither of us can do it either."

Ed stared down at his baby sister, who wore a cute green mini-skirt and a thick coat and red sweater, her red hair all slick and her bangs held back by a matching Holiday flower barrette. "Ed!" She said in a scolding tone. "Yes, baby sister whom I love and cherrish deeply?" Sarah sighed at her brother and began to boss him around, "I need you to go buy some of that sticky fudge at the candy store for Naz's party tonight, got it?" Ed smiled down at his sister and replied "Anything you want, oh dearest sister of mine."

Eddy stared at his friend, glaring at the two siblings and watched as Sarah left, Jimmy still following her behind. "WHY DOES HE ALWAYS TAKE SHIT FROM HER? IF I WERE ED, I'D SOCK IT TO HER!"

Ed waved at his sister as she left and looked at his friends. "Well, guys, I've gotta go buy that sticky fudge for my little sister."

Edd glanced at Eddy, then, deciding he would rather not be stuck hanging out with his rude friend for who knew how long again, looked at Ed and cleared his throat a little. "Um, Ed, you wouldn't mind if I joined you, would you?" He asked.

Ed smiled down at him again and replied "But why of course, Double D!" And he handed him his coat so he wouldn't be cold out in the snowy weather. Eddy groaned at this, but then the thoughts of standing out there alone like a loser got to him and he started to put on his coat as well. "I'll go, too." He mumbled, glancing towards his stand that still no one bought off of.

Edd pretended to gasp and stare wide-eyed at Eddy. "You're actually going to hang out with us! Does this mean extra yelling, too? I'm just tickled with anticipation!" He made a face at Eddy and crossed his arms, still peeved that the formerly-short teen felt the constant need to upset Ed. Sometimes Edd even wondered why he naturally was so protective of the goofy fellow, but those thoughts confused him and he left them to stew in the back of his brain.

Eddy moaned at the nerd. "Whatever, I just wanna go. Beats hanging out here for the rest of this afternoon." Ed smiled at his friend, who is still shorter than he is, and went over and gave him a BIG hug. "YAY! EDDY!" "Hey, hey, put me down, Lumpy!" Eddy whined. "I know your happy, sheesh!" And indeed, Ed was happy, for deep down, he knew he would have both of his closest friends with him. However, Ed was also confused, for you see deep down, he admired them both, but it was more than just a friendship-like admirement and his feelings them always had him ripped between the both of them. Ed felt something for Eddy, a slight crush maybe, something he developed because of his reasoning that he knew Eddy the longest and that they were always best friends and by each other's side, minus the abuse that Eddy always pushed onto him.

However, Edd was a different story, and thinking about him made Ed's heart sore higher than any kite or bird ever flew. For some reason, Ed found himself more attractive to him in the very opposite ways he finds Eddy attractive, thus this is why he is confused on who or which one he likes the most. After all, Double D was always the nicest to him, but he did show signs of awkwardness whenever he got real close to him or perhaps even personal, like when last year Ed kissed him on the cheek under the mistletoe. The poor nerd looked so perturbed that he looked like he couldn't get away fast enough, and that made Ed sad that year and still does today.

Edd retrieved his now slightly trampled and decorated with Eddy footprints textbooks from the floor and looked up in time to watch Ed squeezing the daylights out of Eddy. The short boy felt a little pang of something he wasn't quite used to feeling as he watched his friends' hug. Jealousy? Was he jealous because Eddy was getting a hug and he wasn't? He hadn't read about that and had no idea what his brain was trying to get across to him here. It was probably in one of his books at home, he could read it after the party. He coughed a little to get his friends' attention. "So, candy store..?"

Ed snapped back into reality and let Eddy go and grinned cheesely at Edd. "YAY! CANDY STORE!" He then posed and said "To the fudge!" Eddy stared at him, eyes shifting to see if anyone was around because of embarrassment. Ed then grabbed both of his friends and linked his arms into their's. Eddy pulled away instantly with a shriek, "ED! I don't need anyone to hold my hand like I'm a five year old! We can all walk to the store normally, Lumpy." "Okay, Eddy!" Ed happily replied and let go of Edd's arm and started walking towards the school's steel two front door exit.

Edd blinked for a second before hurrying to catch up with Ed, a strange need to get more attention than Eddy rising in him that made him feel a little bit childish. But he would worry about that later. Right now, Eddy was annoying and Ed was... wonderful? Wonderful worked. "So, Ed," he said. "Do you think everyone's going to be at the party?"

Ed kept smiling as he looked at him. "Well, Double D, usually every year, everyone goes to Naz's parties, so, yeah. I believe so. I can't wait to see all of the happy faces opening up pressies!" He bit his bottom lip and wiggled with glee and skipped right over to the two front doors and held one open for them both. "Right this way, folks!" Eddy strolled over and out he went. "Okay, Lumpy."

Edd scooted through the door onto the school's cement staircase out front. "Thank you, Ed," he said, waiting for Ed to join them before walking off again. He made himself stop thinking about those 'things' he was confused about and concentrated instead on what to get Ed for a present. Eddy would be happy with a jawbreaker and an extra five dollar bill, Ed's present was much more important right now.

Ed waited to see if anyone else was coming and out came Johnny 2x4, Plank still his best imaginary friend. "Thanks, Ed! C'mon, Plank!" He hooted and got on his skateboard and road down the stair's railing. "Whoohooo! See you guys at the party!" And off he went down the sidewalk towards home. Ed smiled at him and waved. "You, too, Johnny!" He stood there and watched as the teen-aged punker disappear off into the distance. Eddy whined impatiently and shouted at him, "C'mon, you idiot! I don't wanna hear Sarah bitch and whine!" Ed turned his attention back to them and smiled. "Coming, Eddy!" And went down stairs to join his bossy friend.

Edd followed Ed down the stairs and looked at Eddy. "Gee, Eddy, you and Sarah are like birds of a feather. And you fight all the time and everything, it's like you're the perfect sitcom couple!" He knew Eddy didn't like anyone talking about him with anyone, regardless of who they were, because.. he was Eddy. Eddy who wanted to be popular and tough and all sorts of things that his brother was. However, he'd only managed to become heavily disliked and quite mean as time went on.

"SHUT UP!" Eddy snapped at him. "There's NO WAY IN HELL that we'd EVER be a couple! You know I hate her guts, SO SHUT UP ABOUT IT!" He then turned to Ed, who looked at him all disappointingly again. "C'mon, Lumpy, let's go get that fudge that brat wants so badly." Ed complied, knowing not to argue with the hot-tempered teen or otherwise, and went on with him and the two began to walk towards the candy store.

Edd snickered at Eddy's instant flying off the handle reaction. "Gee Eddy, you're so defensive," he said, knowing that as long as Eddy didn't start throwing punches he could take him in a verbal fight. "You don't have to be so angry."

Eddy then turned around and sent daggers at him, shaking his fist in anger, which meant 'you better shut up now or else'. Eddy was definately not in the mood to be playing around, after all, their image is important to him and he would rather not be seen as a fool, especially if someone is trying make him look so. Ed smiled at Eddy and wrapped an arm around him. "Aww, c'mon, Eddy. Don't be so glum. It's Christmas Eve!" Eddy huffed and unwrapped Ed's limb. "Don't talk to me about Christmas. It still sucks! I'm older now and I still get clothes!" Ed kept smiling at him and replied "Maybe if you're nice, Santa might get you something niiiiiiice." "Santa?" Eddy looked at his friend like he was ill in the head. "How old are you? Santa's NOT real, Ed. Grow up." "Aww." Edward argued. "Maybe not youuuuu, but to me he iiiiiis." He pinched his cheek affectionately and Eddy slapped his hand away. "Don't do that." He barked.

"Eddy, be nice," Edd scolded automatically. "Just because you don't like your Christmas gifts, you have no right to be rude to Ed." He paused for a second. "More-so than you usually are. You need to work on that."

"Whatever." Eddy snorted as he started to stomp the rest of the way to the candy store. Once there, Ed opened the door again for them and walked in behind them. Ed's eyes looked around, eyes sparkling like stars, for this was sugar heaven for all of them, again the words being "sugar heaven". They all gazed around at all of the items and Eddy found himself running right over to the jawbreakers, his mouth drooling over them, wishing he had a couple of those himself to selfishly enjoy as Ed went right over to the 'sticky' fudge.

Edd lingered by the door to the store as his friends drifted off their separate ways. Eddy was just.. not pleasant to be around nowadays, for some reason that Edd was unaware of or just because he was a mean person, and Ed kept making Edd feel weird on the inside. Maybe he was coming down with a fever from all this cold weather.

Ed took as many of the chocolate fudge as he could pay for and went up to the register to pay for them, but stopped and grabbed a couple of jawbreakers, which really made Eddy's eyes grow as wide as saucer plates as he watched "Lumpy" buy them and the fudge.

Edd lingered in the doorway still, looking out the window and waiting for his friends. Thinking about the 'things' that made him feel funny inside and watching the wind blow snow off the roof of the building and around in the street.

Ed smiled at his friends, looking at both of them, handing Eddy one of the jawbreakers. "Here you go, Eddy. A jaw breaker for youuuu." And Eddy shouted out with joy and greedily stuck it into his mouth, laughing insanely at the tasty sweet ball pleasure touching his taste-buds. Ed continued to smile and went over to Edd and tapped him on the shoulder. "Here's your jawbreaker, Double D!"

Edd turned and looked at him, then at the jawbreaker. "Aw, Ed, you didn't have to buy me anything." He took the jawbreaker and tapped on it absentmindedly, turning a little bit pink in the face. "Really, you didn't have to."

Ed smiled at his friend and petted him on the head. "Aww, it was nothing, Double D. You enjoy that for me, kay?"

"Okay, Ed, I promise I'll enjoy it," He smiled, amused. "I'm going to save it for later, though." He looked over at Eddy. "Hear that Eddy? I'm saving it. That doesn't mean you can have it, so don't ask. And don't try and steal it either."

Eddy paid no mind to him and continue to savor the jawbreaker until it's gone. Ed smiled at Eddy, he was happy that Eddy is happy, the same went for Double D. Then the door to the candy store rang as Nazz stepped in. "Hey, guys!" She smiled at them in her cute knitted sweater and sleazy-like skirt. "Merry Christmas to you all!" She giggled. Eddy then looked at her and blushed nervously and waved. "Hi, Naz! W-what's up!" Nazz smiled at him, "Oh, just getting some goodies for tonight's party, you dig?" Eddy blinked at her and replied "Uhhh..yeah!" He then watched as she went about her own business, he still has the hots for her. Ed's smile turned into a curious frown as he looked at what Eddy was staring at, which made him frown even more. Yes, indeed, Ed was quite jealous of the girl, the same girl that always captured the hearts of the cult-de-sack, especially the hearts of his two best friends.

Edd, busy trying to determine the volume of the jawbreaker by tapping on it in strategic places, paid no mind to Eddy anymore and looked up when Naz spoke. "Oh, hello," he said. "Big party, huh?"

Nazz turned to him and smiled sexily. "Why, yes, Double D." She confirmed. "Everyone's gonna be there. And there will be all kinds of food and games to play and music to dance to! Annnnnd don't forget the mistletoooooooe." Ed snorted to himself, watching as the preppy little hag flirt with his object of affection and desire and also watched as Eddy ogled at her and her body parts. Oh, yes, indeed, Edward is most definately jealous. What did Naz have what he doesn't? ...Okay, let's not talk about that, then. ...Well, atleast he wasn't throwing himself at every boy, that he can say. Ed then grabbed Eddy who began to protest and then grabbed Edd and marched out the door with the both of them.

Edd blinked up at Ed as he nearly lost his hold on his jawbreaker. "Ed? Are you alright? Is something wrong?"

Ed then began to cool down as soon as he heard his "Little Angel" speak to him in a worried tone. He stopped, let both of them go. Eddy growled at him and slapped him in the back of the head. "WHY THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT FOR, HUH!" Ed began to feel the urge to cry again, but fought it back and forced a smile at them. "To get ready for the party, Eddy!" He returned gaily.

Edd stared at Eddy, appalled at the slapping. "EDDY. I told you to stop being mean to him, you jerk! God, you're such a self-centered, greedy little.. little.. PERSON. Grow up."

Eddy turned his glare right on Edd and was about to give him to beat down of his life when Ed intervined and said "Hey guys, look what I can do!" And made his long tongue curl upward and touch the tip of his nose. Eddy soon forgot all about what Edd said and went "eww" at it.

"That's very nice, Ed," Edd said, glaring at Eddy. "Let's go to the party now." He glared at Eddy some more. "Jerk." He hissed at him, before turning and heading off away from the candy store.

Eddy grumbled at him and continued walking. "C'mon, Lumpy." He huffed and Ed laughed and followed them as be began to skip along the way to Naz's place.

Edd hummed as he marched on in front of Eddy. "La la la, happy holidays, I'm so cheerful, Eddy is a jerk, meeerrry Christmassss." He was quite peeved at the rude boy now. Quite.

Eddy groaned some more at him. "What's your problem!" He demanded an answer from him, but knowing quite well what the problem is. "Okay, okay! You can stop with all of the singing and name calling and shit. I get the point! I'm sorry! Geeze." Ed then came up behind Eddy and picked him up in a all close-like hug, Eddy wiggling his feet in the air as he shrieked for he didn't like heights very well. "YAAAAY, Eddy said sorry!" He nuzzled Eddy a bit as Eddy squirmed some more and demanded to be put down instantly.

"Apology accepted," Edd said, glancing back at his two friends. He saw Eddy being hugged and felt that weird jealous pang again, looking down at his feet and walking ahead of them. He didn't want to see it.

Eddy growled under his breath and hit his tall friend. "PUT ME DOWN, STUPID!" Ed, ignoring the punch, smiled and put his friend down. "Okay, Eddy." "Finally!" Eddy gasped and continued walking, Ed certainly has a grip of steel. Ed continued to smile and skipped along merrily behind his friends as they finally make it towards Naz's house, Naz beating them there because of her boyfriend Kevin's motorbike.

Edd plodded along, still holding the jawbreaker Ed gave him and doing an excellent job of not walking into anyone, for someone who was looking right straight down at his feet like they might fall off if he didn't. This wasn't supposed to be so confusing. The books he read made these sorts of 'things' sound happy. He wasn't very happy.

**To be continued...**


	2. At the party!

**Description:** It's Christmas Even and the Eds are invited to a party over a Nazz's, just like every year, only this time things will be different. This takes on in the future when the Eds are older teenagers and are about to finish school. Warning: SLASH! Lots of it. Do not read if you don't like it. 

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Ed, Edd, n' Eddy.

Please read and review.

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**Ed's Christmas Gift!**

**Written by Lor and Tiffy**

Ed twirled around on the snow-covered ground, being as happy as a lark can be in this wintry season. Eddy was just glad that their detention and making up 'stupid' tests, due to the fact that they all got sick at the same time with a severe flue-bug, were finally over and they they could enjoy the rest of the holidays, doing whatever the Eds usually do best. Ed continued to skip around and saw his little friend look all long in the face, he then joined Eddy and him and hugged Edd close. "Aww, don't be saaaaad, Double Deeeeeeeee." He rest his chin on top of Edd's hat, pulling him closer to him, giving him a much more affectionate and warmer hug than before.

Edd blinked and flushed pink as the taller boy hugged him. "Erm.. um... well, uh," he stuttered. "Er... Umm." Well, wasn't this awkward. Quite awkward, indeed. "I, I'm not s-sad. Why would you think that?" He chose this as the opportune moment to look anywhere that wasn't eye contact with someone else.

Eddy growled impatiently at the two. "C'mon!" He yelled. "I'm freezing out here! One of you ring the bell already or something!" He then burred and rubbed gloved his hands together. "I'm fucking FREEZING MY ASS OFF OUT HERE!" Ed then snapped and looked at his friend in concern, the guy really was freezing out here and he showed signs of it, too. "I'm sorry, Eddy." He said and reached over Eddward and rang the door bell. "F-f-f-f-FINALLY!" Eddy's voice rang out and echoed down the streets, his teeth chattering at top speed as teeth chattering goes.

"You should have worn a warmer coat, Eddy," Edd said automatically. "And don't swear." He looked at the door and waited for someone to answer.

And from inside, they heard voices, one being Nazz's, telling someone to go answer the door for her. Ed grinned as he waited while Eddy groaned even more and surely enough it was Kevin who opened the door first, and then shut it automatically before Ed could even begin to finish wishing Kevin a Merry Christmas, this of course made Eddy furious even more at the biker.

Edd blinked at the door and then frowned, nudging his way past Eddy and rapping on the door with his knuckles. "Kevin! We were invited to this party too, you know! Let us in!" He listened, but didn't hear anyone coming to the door. He sighed and rolled his eyes. "We brought fudge!"

And then came the door slinging open, the teen-aged tan-skinned blond smiling at them. "OH, BOY! FUDGE! HEAR THAT PLANK, THEY BROUGHT FUDGE! COME RIGHT ON IN GUYS!"

Edd jumped and almost fell backward. "Heavens, Johnny!" he exclaimed. "Don't shout like that!" He put a hand on his forehead and breathed deeply, calming his wimpy nerves. "Alright. I'm okay. Let's go in."

And in stepped the Ed-boys, joining the rest of the teens of Peach-creek in the celebration. They looked around at their surroundings, indeed, this year definately seems better than that previous years, which seems to only consist of sodas, cake, presents, and a few games, now it seemed all out in full throttle. Ed grinned wildly at it all, he is indeed in his "happy place," and just before he began to frollick around, his sister halted him. "FREEZE, MISTER!" She ordered, Jimmy still looming around her, always in the back. "Did you get that fudge that I wanted? DID YOU?" "Yeah! Did you, Ed?" Jimmy added in. Ed smiled at them both and handed the bag to them. "Here you go, baby sister of mine. Fudge for your liking." The two grinned at the goodies in the bag and began to devour them.

Ed continued to smile, nothing seemed to get him down, not tonight, not on Christmas Eve, and definately not on Christmas. So, Ed, being himself, did what's natural, he began to spread the joy. Eddy watched Big Ed dance around like he was on a sugar-high and shook his head at him and looked his dorky friend. "Soooo, what now, Double D?"

"Um," Edd said, watching Ed dance. He looked at Eddy. "What, you're suddenly not angry at me anymore? Well now, I'm impressed. You've matured. Slightly." Sometimes the boy just didn't know when not to make a snippy comment, honestly.

Eddy blinked at him and said, "Hey, I know it seems like I'm angry at you all of the time, but I'm not, okay? I just want us to look and all, you know, be popular like the other kids. Wouldn't you like to be popular, too? Maybe then we'd have more chances to get with Naz or any of the other pretty girls at school. How's that sound? Huh? Huh? Plus, you're the genius of the group, without you and your brains, most of our scams wouldn't've worked. Don't think I've forgotten that."

Edd looked at him for a minute. "Eddy," he said. "None of our scams EVER worked. And if they did, it was dumb luck." He brushed some snow from outside off his shoulder and continued. "And you may want to be popular, but I don't really care. Sure, it would be nice not to be the one pushed into doors as they're opening, but that situation has been improving!"

"B-b-but...But Double Deeeeee." Eddy whined at him. "We can still improve our scams and maybe one day I'll own my very own business and you two can work for me, you know, as friends and as business partners." Eddy breathed in and continued, them not knowing that Ed was now listening near by them. "You know you've always been my bestest best friend and my good half." Ed's breath caught up into his throat as the last three words echoed into his ears and rang into his mind, over and over again. Ed felt his heart torn up into confusion more, only this time, it was a more hurtful kind of confusion. Ed then swallowed the lump in his throat and walked away from the conversation, he wasn't in it anyway.

Edd blinked at Eddy again. He seemed to be blinking in confusion a lot more often, these days. "I'm your what now?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Since when am I anyone's 'good half'? What's that supposed to mean, anyway?"

Eddy stared at Edd and was about to reply, but then Rolf came over, greeting them cheerfully. "Helloooooo there, Ed-boys! Howdy-doody to you both and merry whatever it is you natives do here."

"Merry Christmas, Rolf," Edd said. He looked at the ethnic boy's clothing and raised another eyebrow. "That's a very... interesting outfit." He looked at Eddy again. "So, what were you saying? ...Rolf, your vest.. smells. What is is made of?"

Rolf smiled proudly and announced "From the finest cold-cuts from Nana's side of the country! Great Nana how I looove youuuu." He said the last sentence in tears. Eddy stared at the farmer and gagged. "Gee, Rolf." And then Nazz came strutting over to them, wiggling her hips side to side just enough not to be too much. "Hiiiiiiii, Eds." She greeted with a wave.

Edd recoiled slightly from the meat-wearing boy and made a face. "Well, it's... cultural," he said. He looked at Nazz. "Oh, hi. Um, nice party." He looked from Nazz back to the cold cut vest and back to Nazz again, inching away from the foul-smelling clothing as fast as he could without looking rude.

Rolf, thankfully, walked off to talk to Kevin and the rest of cult-de-sack, it was now only Ed, Nazz, and him in the talking circle now. "Soooooo, guys. How's it hangin'? Likin' the holidays so far?" Nazz inqueried with a smile. Eddy began to sweat a little, which is something Naz always seemed to make him naturally do whenever she is around. "Uhhh, well, uhhh, Naz, it's uuuuhhhh..."

"...It's lovely," Edd said. "Eddy loves the holidays, isn't that right?" He might get annoyed at Eddy sometimes, well, a lot, but he couldn't stand there and watch his friend make a fool of himself. "Right, Eddy? Tell Nazz how much you like holidays."

"Uhhh. Y-yeah! I like holidays!" Eddy said as he blushed a bright shade of pink. Nazz giggled at them both and hugged them at once. "You two have a great time, okay? And don't be afraid to go under the mistletoe. Opening presents will start in thirty minutes or so. Enjoy the food and dance!" Eddy just replied, saying in a day-dreamy tone, "That's nice, Nazz."

"Ah yes, you have a lovely time too," Edd said. "Might want to make sure Rolf's vest doesn't fall apart into the punch bowl. Just a thought, seeing as he's wearing... meat." Edd shook his head and muttered something about "rotting meat punch".

Nazz smiled and replied to him, "Will do, Double D." And then blew a kiss at him and Eddy, Eddy falling over.

Edd looked down at Eddy. He made a tsk-ing noise and held his hand out to help his friend up. "She has walked away, Eddy, you can be human again now."

Eddy took his friend's hand and pulled himself up, shaking his head a bit. "Okay. There. Sooooo-what no-" He was cut off again, but this time by pushy Sarah herself. "MOVE IT, YOU LOSER." She shrieked.

Edd jumped and scurried out of Sarah's way, dragging Eddy away from the redhead as best he could by the wrist. He was weak, and pulling Eddy along was, well, hard. He let go of Eddy and busied himself with gathering some tree-shaped cookies in a napkin so as to avoid Sarah's wrath. "So, Eddy," he said. "What were you saying before?"

Eddy glared at Sarah and strongly desired to rip the witch's mane out, but then turned his attention to his friend and blinked. "Huh?" He asked in puzzlement. "Oh, I don't remember rig--HEY, KEVIN! SHUT YOUR PIE-HOLE OVER THERE! ...Anyway, ummm..oh, look, food!" He then rushed over to the food and began to fix him a plate full of nothing but junk.

Edd blinked, then followed his friend over to the snack table. Eddy had something to say and Edd wanted to know what it was, darn it! "Sooo," he said, watching Eddy pile junk food onto his plate. "What was that 'good half' thing you were talking about? ...You really shouldn't eat all of that in one sitting."

Eddy looked up him, lifting a brow at him. "What do you mean, I shouldn't eat all of this in one sitting? ...And I meant better half as in 'the brains' of the group, the know it all and such. We're like the complete opposites, yet we still kind of do share some of the same traits, the likes and dislikes. You and I could rule the world, baby. Together, we'd be unstoppable!"

Edd rolled his eyes at the food question. "You shouldn't eat all of that in one sitting because it's bad for you. ...And what about Ed?"

"What about the lump, sock-head?" Eddy said more than asked. "If anything, he's good at being the muscle, since we both know how strong he is, and he can also be our main source of attraction. He always like getting attention." Eddy said as he crammed the cookies into his mouth. "And anyway, without us, he'd be nothing. I mean, c'mon, think about it. No one else seems to want the lump-on-a-log."

Edd looked at him. "Eddy, that's mean," he said. "Ed's a very nice person. You wouldn't really just use him as a lackey, would you? Even after knowing him for all these years?" He paused, then spoke again. "And how do I know I wouldn't just be the smart lackey then, if Ed's just the muscle? You don't have the best reputation when it comes to your own success, you know. No offense."

Eddy huffed at what the nerd said and snorted. "Oh, c'mooooooon. You and I know it's true that if it wasn't for us, Ed wouldn't have anyone else in the world. ...Anyway, where is that Lump?" Eddy looked around his whole environment and saw no signs of Ed, only the Christmas decorations, the tree, the food, and their other peers that stood around talking about the latest things and gossip, oh, and a Johnny running everyone around in circles, including them.

"Eddy, Ed is our friend," Edd said. He looked around as well, frowning a little. "Where IS Ed? Maybe he went to the bathroom..?" He looked around the room again as something crunched under his foot. He lifted his shoe and was greeted with a now headless reindeer-shaped cookie. "Eddy, you're dropping food. Be more careful. ...And wait, what's with all this talk about owning a business all of a sudden? I mean, I know you've been greedy and slightly selfish for years, but suddenly you're really serious about this business thing."

Eddy gave him a look "...Yeah, so? You've know that was one of my greatest dreams." And then the door bell rang and yet again, Johnny 2x4 opened the door and greeted the person outside.

"I'm just saying," Edd said. "You actually sound serious now. You know, with real ideas. That make sense." He heard the doorbell and looked over towards the doorway.

And in stepped Edward, carrying a few small specially wrapped, in Ed's creative homemade wrapping, Christmas presents in his arms and placing them over near the tree with all of the other presents, all three presents tied to one another as if all three of them belonged to a single person.

Edd watched Ed put the presents down and waved at him. "Hello, Ed!" he called. "Where did you go off to? Come over here and talk with us!" Enthusiastic fellow.

Ed smiled at him and took his coat off and out popped wings of a fairy, made out of paper mashe, wire, and some tape and other odds and inns and placed his coat onto the coat wrack and went right over to his friends, ignoring the laughter he got from everyone else, especially Eddy, who tried hard to stiffle it. "Hiya, guys!" Ed cheered at them. Eddy snickered some more before replying, "Hiya, Ed...nice...wings!" He then bursted out laughing and all Ed's response was twirling around as if he was a pretty princess fairy himself.

Edd elbowed Eddy in the side and smiled at Ed. "Those are quite nice, Ed," he said, nodding at the wings. "Did you make them yourself? Is that where you were all this time?"

Ed smiled at him and said "No, actually, I made these sometime earlier this week! I actually went to go visit Saaaaaaaantaaaaaa." His smile turned into an affectionate one once again. Eddy looked at him, scoffing. "How many times do I have to say it, Ed, drop it! We're all old enough to know he's NOT REAL!" Ed looked and him and stated, "Actually, Christmas can have anything you want to believe in or have in it, Eddy. I choose to say Santa because I want to, not because I have to." And Eddy just moaned at that retort.

"Eddy, let Ed believe in Santa if he wants to," Edd scolded, waving a finger at Eddy. "He doesn't complain about things you say, you shouldn't complain about what he says." He looked at Ed again and held up the napkin full of cookies he hadn't eaten yet. "Would you like a cookie?"

Ed's smile brightened when hearing Edd's offer. "Thank you, Double D." He then took a cookie and began eating it.

"You're very welcome, Ed!" Edd said, smiling. He looked at Eddy and sighed. "Oh come on Eddy, do you have to be so mean like this all the time? You were just fine a minute ago, now you're just rolling your eyes like we're annoying you by being here."

Eddy moaned at him. "I don't feel like hearing this again, Sock-head. I'm not in the moo--WHOA!" His eyes grew wide as he was lifted again into another hug by none other than Ed himself. "Aww, poor Eddy is in a bad moooooood. He's all saaaaad. Hugs for Eddy!" And he continued to hug him all real close again. Eddy wiggled in his grasp and gasped out to him, "Ed, you're kinda crushing me!" Ed then frowned at himself. "Aww, I'm sorry, Eddyyyyy." Eddy continued to try and wiggle out of his grasp. "Okay, okay, just put me down." Ed complied. "Okay, Eddy." And set him back down.

Edd frowned a little at Eddy. "I still say you shouldn't be so mean. What's your problem?"

Eddy got up in his face, growling. "I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM, OKAY? I JUST WANNA ENJOY THE PARTY WITHOUT YOUR DAMN YAKKING! SHEESH! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST GET OFF MY BACK FOR ONCE?"

Edd paled and backed away a little. Eddy would probably hit him if he got angry enough. "I, uh, I..." He managed to stutter out some frightened gibberish before his voice stopped working and he just kind of stood there, perfectly still and wide-eyed.

Ed saw this and did not like what could possibly happen next and intervined by pulling Eddy away from Ed and standing in between the two. "Hey, guys! I just had an idea! Maybe if I wish real hard, I can fly in these things!" He moved his shoulder-blades in and out, making the wings seem like they are flapping. "Whoo! Lookit me go, guys!" Eddy snorted and him, then snickered. "Yeah right, Ed. Maybe you'll lay an egg, too, while you're at it, being that you are trying to be a weird looking bird and all." Ed then began to make various silly barnyard sounds.

Edd shook his head and snapped out of his frozen, terrified state. He watched Ed move the paper wings around and smiled a little as their lanky friend made a rather good imitation of a duck. "That's very nice, Ed. Be careful not to break those wings, though, they look kind of fragile and I wouldn't want them to tear."

Ed smiled merrily at him and said; "Oh, I'll be careful, Double D! I will!"

Edd smiled again. Ed was happy, and Ed being happy could make a lot of people happy, himself included. He looked around at the rest of the party and then back at Ed again, suddenly. "Oh, I almost forgot!" he said. "You never did tell me what you want for Christmas, Ed."

Ed then stopped flapping his wings and making barnyard sounds and looked at his friend. "...What I want for Christmas, Double D?"

"Mhmm," Edd said, nodding and looking up at Ed. "What do you want?"

Ed bit his bottom lip and raked his teeth along the outside on his skin, he really didn't know what to tell his genius friend. Part of Ed wanted to really just come out with it, but the other part of him wanted to avoid the subject or at least lie, but lying was a bad thing to do and certainly wasn't his sort of thing. "Well, Double D. I have given it thought, but..."

He paused and as he thought about what Eddy said to Edd earlier, that Edd was Eddy's better half. Abscent-mindedly, Ed's bottom lip began to quiver, for he was completely nervous and did not want to lose the friends he already had, Eddy still standing around listening to the both of them made it even worse. However, perhaps...maybe...just maybe...he should come out...out of that...

Edd blinked, looking at Ed still. "Ed?" He waved his hand in the taller boy's face. "Ed, are you alright?"

Ed snapped at it and looked down at his friend. "Double D..."

Edd blinked again. Ed sure was acting oddly. "Yes?"

He continued to look down at him, swallowing before he finally spoke again. "...I'm gay."

Edd looked at him. He looked at him for a while before speaking, and when he did, he could only manage a little "oh." Another one of those strange, fluttery feelings was back in his stomach. He thought for a minute then blinked again and looked back up at Ed, confused. "So, what do you want for Christmas?"

Ed smiled sadly down at him, taking in a breath or two. "You possibly couldn't give it to me even if I wanted you to."

Edd looked at him, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Ed looked down at the floor for a second, gathering the wits that everyone thought didn't ever existed within the confounds of his intellect before looking up at him into his eyes, continuing. "Double D...when I first met you, I have always been confused about how I felt about you, of course, I liked you as much as Eddy did and as any friend should, but I was still confused inside. As I grew older, these same feelings increased as well as I found out that I, in fact, aren't attracted to girls, really, well, not in that way...and I found myself liking boys a lot more." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, biting on his lip as he glanced away for a few seconds and then back down at Edd, trying to ignore the horrified looks that everyone was sending him right then.

"And what's so funny is that I kind of felt the same for Eddy, but for some reason, it's different with you, you give me a whole different feeling inside, a very warm and fuzzy, melty-gooey felling inside, the very feeling that Eddy never seem to give me." He smiles more nervously, tears actually starting to leak from the corners of his eyes. "You...you also make my tummy all wiggly and feel all weird inside...you also make my heart go 'thumpity-thump-thump' as well. ...It's even doing it right now as I'm speaking to you. Double Deeeeee." He paused and got closer to him, his eyes staring directly into his. "I believe...I love you."

And everyone around them gasped out-loud, especially Eddy, who looked the most horrified of them all, yet knew somewhere that the guy had to be gay anyway, but still, now no one will shut up about them, their reputation completely tarnished like old brass that hadn't been shined in years. Kevin began to laugh and point at them almost immediately, especially at Ed and Double D. "HA HA! The Dumb-Dork likes the smart Double-Dork! HA HA!" Sarah then passed out a few seconds later, Jimmy fretting wildly over her, wondering if his friend was okay or not. Rolf, however, started to lose it and pointed at Ed as if he was the greatest evil ever and demanded him to be thrown out instantly or he'll tant them all with his wicked filth. Johnny just slapped Ed on the back and talked about how he figured it all along.

Everything seemed to be pure chaos now, with the people laughing, gasping, cursing, and wanting poor Ed to leave and making fun of poor Double-D because of Ed's confession.

Edd stood there, staring that wide-eyed stare again, in a state of shock that matched the lovely red color his face had turned. The weird fluttery feeling in his stomach seemed to be having a field day, while everyone around them made him feel very nauseous. He looked around at everyone and then back at Ed. "Ed, I..." He paused and thought for a minute. This level of awkward was somewhere off the charts, and the other kids weren't helping. He spoke quietly so only Ed could hear him. "Listen, Ed, I.. I need to think, okay? Just.. give me some time to.. to think about things, and I promise I'll talk to you once I've figured some stuff out. I just.. everyone else is all.. yeah. I just need to think, okay? I promise I'll talk to you later. I'll come by your house and we can talk."

Ed smiled sadly, knowing in his heart what all of this usually means when someone gives you this speech. He nodded at his friend, well, what might not be his friend by any time tonight or tomorrow or whenever. "...Okay, Double D."

Edd glanced around the room at everyone else, the lot of whom were still reacting in all sorts of strange ways. He bit his lip, thinking, before standing up on his toes for just long enough to kiss Ed on the cheek. "I promise, Ed." he said. "Everyone's just being.. themselves and if we went anywhere to talk now I don't think we'd ever live down whatever strange jokes they'd throw at us. ...And I think Rolf has gone completely insane and he's scarier than Eddy." He looked up at Ed again and smiled a little. "Let's just let them get this out of their systems now so we can have some peace and quiet later."

Ed touched his cheek where Edd had kissed it, all of the other voices seem to fade into silence and only Eddward's voice was heard. He slowly nodded at him, not knowing if he really wanted to talk to him later or not and if so, it might be a talk about how it would never work out between the two, but either way, he still trusted his words, hoping he was telling the truth.

Edd glanced around at everyone else again, the horrified feeling of "oh good god everyone is shouting at me" coming over him again. He gulped and looked at Ed one last time, giving him a look that he hoped got across as "I'm terrified of these people please excuse me" before he darted off down the hallway and into Naz's downstairs bathroom, leaning against the door and sliding down to the floor. Now he just had to get over the fact that he had just left poor Ed out there by himself and actually think about what he was going to do now. He liked Ed. That was the fluttering. He didn't want the both of them to become the new neighborhood target for even more teasing and bullying, though. He looked at the ceiling. He liked Ed a lot. Maybe he should just forget everyone else.

Forget everyone else and whatever they wanted out of him and do what he wanted to do, for once. Yeah, that sounded good. Now he just had to wait until everyone calmed down before he could leave the bathroom.

And inside of the living room, everything was but calm. Rolf started to do strange customs of burning everything that Ed touched, much to poor Naz's protests, he even tried to rip the carpet up as he cursed at Ed in his native tongue. Everyone else, however, kept laughing, except Naz who tried to stop Rolf from destroying her home, Jimmy who is still caring for the passed out Sarah, and Eddy who had the angriest look now of all. Ed found all of it quickly rushing back to him, especially when Eddy jumped him and began to pound him mercilessly, screaming at him about his ruined reputation. "YOU DUMBASS!" He bellowed. "YOU RUINED IT! YOU RUINED EVERYTHING FOR ME AND FOR DOUBLE D! ESPECIALLY FOR ME! I'LL ALWAYS BE A LAUGHING STACK ALWAYS BECAUSE OF YOU! YOU! YOUUUUU! I HATE YOU!"

Ed began to cry at Eddy, trying hard to stop the shorter man from slinging punches at him without fighting back and hurting him. "I'M SORRY, EDDY! I'M SORRY!" He cried hysterically. "I DIDN'T MEAN TO! HONEST, EDDY!" Eddy slammed his fist once more into his abdomen, which sent poor Edward in searing pain. Eddy then got up off of him, yanked him up and pushed him right out of the front door. Ed landed face down directly into the snow, still sobbing hysterically, he looked up at his friend. "P-p-please d-don't h-h-hate-te m-m-me, E-e-ed-d-dy-y." He begged on his knees, ignoring the freezing snow all around him. Eddy continued to glare at the tall goth and snapped in a low, angry tone. "Too late, Lumpy. Get out of my life! I've had it with you! You're always ruining it! I don't ever wanna see you again and neither does anyone else!" And he slammed the door shut and Ed was left outside in silence of the snow flakes falling all around him.

In the bathroom, Edd sniffled a little. He could hear everyone shouting, especially Eddy, and couldn't help but think that this was all his fault, not Ed's. If he had never moved here, then this never would have hap-- No. No, this was not his fault. If Eddy had a problem, that was his problem, not Edd's. He was going to be happy whether Eddy liked it or not. Now if only Rolf would stop trying to destroy the house, he could run along and do that.

Ed sobbed some more to himself, he wasn't happy anymore, in fact, this was the saddest he's ever been in his life, because not only didn't his family care about or loved him, but neither did his friends. Slowly but surely, he finally stood on his own two legs and walked away from Naz's place and down the street. He paused once he got to a street light and realized that his wings he made were now broken and of no use, so he ripped them off and stares at them, tears dropping onto the then sheets of paper, and threw them onto the ground and continued walking the rest of the way home.

Meanwhile, Edd was pacing back and forth in the bathroom. If he ran fast enough, maybe Rolf wouldn't kill him. Or maybe Eddy would. He had to get out of there and he had to do it now. Opening the door just a crack, he slipped into the hallway and made his way back to the front room where the others were, silently. Kevin was laughing to himself, Jimmy was fretting over Sarah, Naz and Rolf were distracted, and Johnny was perfectly harmless. Perfect. Then he saw Eddy. He watched as Eddy slammed the door on someone who was no doubt Ed, feeling very very angry inside all of a sudden. He made his way quietly across the room to where Ed's jacket was lying on a chair near the tree, picking it up. He spotted the gift Ed had placed there earlier and looked at it more closely.

That was his name on it, for sure. He picked up the little tower of boxes and, holding it and the coat in one arm, marched over to Eddy and jabbed a finger into his shoulder. "I told you to be nice to him," he said, glaring what was probably the coldest glare he'd ever managed. "You're never nice to him, you never accept him, you treat him like dirt. You're a lousy friend. Ed being gay isn't going to ruin your life, and it's not ruining mine. I don't know how you're going to get yourself out of this one, Eddy, but it's going to take a LOT for me to forgive you." He paused. He was really, really angry. The angriest he'd been in a long time, and Eddy just didn't care about ANYthing. His lip twitched. "It's going to take a whole lot. Screw you." And with that, he left.

He marched out of Naz's house and down the little front steps, feet crunching in the snow. He headed straight for Ed's house, some ways away. It was cold out. Very cold, and Ed didn't have a coat. Edd looked at the coat in his arms and stopped walking, putting the present down on a clear patch of ground and tugging the coat on. It was much too big for him, but it was warm and smelled like candycanes and all the other nice things Ed smelled of. He picked up the present again and continued his walk across the cul-de-sac.

**To be continued...**


	3. Running away from it all!

**Description:** It's Christmas Even and the Eds are invited to a party over a Nazz's, just like every year, only this time things will be different. This takes on in the future when the Eds are older teenagers and are about to finish school.

**Warning:** SLASH! Lots of it. Do not read if you don't like it.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Ed, Edd, n' Eddy.

* * *

**Ed's Christmas Gift!**

**Written by Lor and Tiffy**

Ed tried desperately to hold in his tears as he dashed all the way home, in an angry-like fit. Eddy was always mean to him, ever since the beginning, same with his sister and everybody else! ...Well, almost everybody, but that person probably hates him by now anyway, probably as much as Eddy and his parents do, after all, Eddward was probably a professional star at giving everyone else pity, even himself. Ed rushed into his home by sliding down through the window that led into the basement, his domain of the house, the very thing his parents put him when they didn't want him living in rest of their house. His parents never did want him and they made it clear to him everyday since his childhood, nowadays it was more severe, they didn't want anything to do with him. Ed didn't know what was worse, being abused or being completely forgotten. Whichever it was, they both seemed the same to him and the only reason why he never ran away was because of his friends, especially Double D whom he loved and cared for so much. ...Too bad they hate him now, too. Now Ed didn't have any meaning here whatsoever, he didn't belong at all, now that his friends don't want him, and now he was free to run away any time he wanted. No one cared anyway about "the lovable oaf" and seeming how things have gotten bad so far, he knew no one would want him around for Christmas, which he only celebrated at Double D's house because all of the presents under the tree here were always for Sarah.

Ed moaned at the ache he felt inside and let a few of his tears escape him. He sniffled as he looked at his room, which over the years had gotten even worse, weather he cleaned it or not, the basement was always a dump and had terrible leaks in which his parents would tell him to fix them himself. Ed felt tremors all over his body, he couldn't stand it here no more, not another week, a day, hour, minute, second, and the little numbers that were in seconds, he just wanted out of here and he wanted out NOW! Ed then grabbed whatever was useful to him, which wasn't much, and even some of his other things, like his comic books he collected and even the ones he had been creating himself. He then passed a badly made old mirror, looked in it and saw that his neat hairstyle he made for the holidays was ruined, it looked like broken antlers with painted stripes now, so he went over to the sink and washed all of hair coloring, gel, and hairspray out. Once done, he wrapped his hair into a towel for only a couple of minutes and then let his hair down, which fell past his shoulders. Ed continued to sniffle as he threw the towel into a corner carelessly and grabbed his stuff he wanted to carry with him. "This is it." He said to himself, staring sadly around the room. "Good-bye everyone." He sighed and went pushed his luggage through the little window and climbed through himself, standing in the snow without a coat and a wet head. He shivered to himself, it is much colder now than it was before. However, he grabbed his things and moved on, not lifting his head up to anyone that be out there to greet and make fun of him, which they're weren't. No one was out there and it was silent as the stars were in the sky, but tonight there weren't no stars for a snow storm had came in, but Ed didn't care, he just wanted to walk to the city and get on a bus to go somewhere else where no one could find him. Perhaps Alaska or Florida would be a good location.

Edd, across the cul-de-sac, looked up from watching his feet to make sure he didn't slip on something icy and crack his skull and saw Ed walking away from his house. "Ed!" he called out, hurrying over to him. "Ed I'm sorry I left you there like that I--" He stopped mid-sentence as he saw the luggage, Ed's ruined hair and a bruise on his face that had no question come from Eddy. "...What.. what happened? I'm so sorry Ed this all my fault oh my god are you alright?"

Ed looked at him with the saddest look he ever gave anyone before. "I'm okay, Double D."

Edd stared at him for a minute. "No, you're not," he said. "Come on Ed, let's go inside, it's cold out here." He grabbed Ed's hand and tugged on it a little. "You're soaking wet, you're going to catch a cold. Please come inside?"

Ed's frown deepened and he closed his eyes. "I'm leaving, Double D." He said with a sigh. "I don't belong here."

"Ed, please, come inside," Edd said again. "Please. I don't want you to leave." He held onto Ed's hand tighter now.

Ed opened his eyes and blinked at him. "...You...you want me to stay?"

Edd sniffled a little and squeezed his hand. "I do want you to stay, Ed," he said softly. "I don't care if everyone else thinks we're even bigger freaks than before, either. I want you to stay. Please, come inside where it's warm."

Ed looked at him closely and felt guilty, he didn't like to see Edd cry, especially if anyone made him cry, even himself. "Okay, Double D." He said in a slight whisper. "Let's go inside."

Edd smiled at him and tugged on his hand a little again. "Come on, Ed," he said, leading the way to his house. He didn't want to go to Ed's place, even if it was closer. It was pretty obvious to anyone who knew him well enough that Ed's family life wasn't the best, and Edd didn't want him to go back there right after he'd been about to run away. So, to his own house he headed.

Ed blushed to himself as Edd lead him away from his house to what appeared to be the nerd's home. He felt his heart be lightened up some, but the weight of everyone and everything else still held it back down. He can feel the little monsters eating him from the inside, torturing him and his heart, trying to make it be cease and break, broken and never to beat ever again. Ed continued to let his friend lead him, Edd's warm hand sending goosebumps down his arm and his spine. Ed began to feel nervous inside, hoping that his friend wasn't just taking pity on him like he use to always do in the past. However, thinking this, made Ed feel bad about himself, because he really loved Edd and wanted nothing more than to be near him and to have him by his side, but who's to say that will ever happen anyway.

Edd held tight onto Ed's hand as he led him across the cul-de-sac and up his front steps. "My parents are out at a company holiday party," he said as he opened the door and nodded for Ed to come in. Why he had to say that he didn't know, just seemed easier because it was merely stating a fact. He didn't want to ask any questions and upset Ed even more while they were still standing in the doorway. He let Ed in and closed the door behind him, looking at his tall friend. "You're all wet," he observed again. "How about you go put on something dry and I'll make us some cocoa, okay?" There had to be clothes in that suitcase somewhere. Edd looked down at himself and went a little pink. "And I'm wearing your coat. Erm.."

Ed blinked and realized that indeed he actually was and smiled at him. "I'll, go get dressed." He said and walked into Edd's house, remembering to take his shoes off first at the door before going anywhere else. Ed then took his luggage, laid it down, opened it, took out a few clothes, closed it, and took the clothes with him and went to Edd's restroom to go change.

Edd watched him go before wiggling out of his own shoes and heading into the kitchen. He busied himself with making cocoa and tried to put into some sort of orderly fashion all the thoughts running amok in his head. Eddy was a horrible friend, their peers weren't much better, Ed was upset, he wanted to hug him a whole lot, that coat still smelled very nice, the little presents he'd set down on the coffeetable in the other room were just waiting to be opened, he really liked Ed...

Once in the bathroom, Ed began to change out of his wet clothes and into the dry ones that he finally learned to wash when he turned thirteen. Thirteen. Everything changed for him then when he hit that age, that's when his parents didn't want anything to do with him anymore and it was up to Edd to teach him how to take care of himself and fix his own things such as eats, besides his parents never really took care of him anyway, but it all just went for the worse once he hit his teen years. Ed shook his head, he didn't want to go back home, but seeing as how bad Edd wants him to stay, he would have to go back, he'd have to deal with all of them, his family and the rest of the cul-de-sack. Ed sighed at these thoughts, they weren't pleasant, but Edd made him happy and that was gonna be his focus for the rest of tonight. And with that, he finished dressing and went out of the restroom with his wet clothes and went to go find his crush.

Edd, bustling about in the kitchen looking for mugs and still wearing Ed's coat, waved to him. "You can put those wet things in the dryer, if you want," he said, pointing in the direction of the laundry room and trying to stand on tiptoe to reach the mugs at the same time. "I just have to get these mugs and I'll be right there." He stretched and managed to grab two of the mugs. "There!" He smiled over at Ed, pleased that he could reach something that high, and went to fill the mugs with cocoa.

Ed smiled at him, watching him for a few seconds as Edd poured hot cocoa into the mugs. "Okay, Double D." He said and went to go put his clothes into the dryer.

Edd filled the mugs and dropped a few marshmallows into them before picking them up and making his way back into his living room. He set the mugs down on the table next to his presents and sat down to wait for Ed.

And surely, Ed came back into the living room, smiling at his best friend. Thoughts about how adorable Double D was while sitting on couch seemed to fill his mind. Ed felt himself about to giggle like a school girl as the feelings inside of him got stronger. 'OH MY GOD, HE'S SO FIIIIIIINE! Him sitting there in my coat, MY COAT. OH MY GOOOOOOD. He's SO CUTE in that hat of his!' He thought to himself, trying hard to keep those thoughts to himself.

Edd twiddled his thumbs a little, waiting still. He turned and spotted Ed in the room and motioned for him to come over. "Come on, Ed, don't let your cocoa get cold. Come and sit."

Ed squealed inside of his mind. "Okay." He answered and went over and sat down beside him, resisting the urge to cuddle him close, just like he always did.

Edd handed him a mug of cocoa and sipped a little of his own, looking at his friend and wondering what he should or shouldn't say so as not to upset him. "So um, Ed..." he began. "I'm uh.. I'm sorry about everyone else. They shouldn't have acted like that. Especially Eddy."

Ed looked at him and said; "I know. I knew they wouldn't like me more once they knew, too." He sipped his cocoa, made a 'Oooh, tastey' sound, and sipped some more. "This is good, Double D."

Edd watched him, torn up inside that anyone could be so mean to someone like Ed. It just didn't make sense. "Thank you," he said. Pause. Speak gently, don't want to upset him. "...Do your parents know?"

Ed looked at him and shook his head. Of course they didn't know, if they did, he wouldn't be living there anymore, but rather at his gay cousin's house instead.

I didn't think so," Edd said. He reached over and put a hand on Ed's shoulder. "You don't have to go back there if you don't want to. You... you can stay here. My parents wouldn't mind as long as the chores get done. You're welcome to stay." Wow, where did that come from? Rather sudden for him, just up and offering to take him in. But he liked Ed, he did, probably a lot more than he thought, after all..

Ed blinked at him. "...Are you sure, Double D?" He didn't want to invade his home anymore and really didn't know if it would be okay or not with Edd's parents, and if he could stay, where would he stay at.

"Of course I'm sure, Ed," Edd said, patting his shoulder. "I don't want you to stay there if you're unhappy. I, um.. I really care about you." ..Well, that was a start. Better wording and less confusion and he'd get the words out eventually!

"...Really?" Ed blinked, so Double D did care about him, but how much? "...More than Eddy does?"

"Yes," Edd said. This was treading on sensitive ground, now, with Eddy thrown into the mix. There was just so much of that guy you could take. "Eddy, he, well.. he doesn't.. he doesn't care about you at all, Ed. When you were away from the party, I was talking to him, and he just.. he said he hangs around with you because you're strong and he needs 'the muscle' for his stupid scams. He said you'd be nothing if it wasn't for him and I, he did. But that's not true, Ed. Eddy may think so, but I don't."

Ed looked at him. "I pretty much felt that he didn't, but...I couldn't help but stay around him and do everything he wanted me to do."

Edd squeezed his friend's shoulder in a comforting sort of way. "Eddy isn't a good friend. He thinks everything revolves around him and he doesn't care about anyone. Even if he claims they're his friends." He put his mug down on the coffeetable and put his arm around Ed's shoulders. "Don't get hung up on him. We don't need him around anymore if he's going to keep on being like that."

Ed blushed a little at Edd when he put his arm around him and looked down at his cocoa. "...He was my first friend I ever had. ...But he wasn't really ever my best friend, well, he was until you came to the neighborhood, then I was confused on who I liked more, so I loved you both, especially in the past five or more years. Eddy always treated me badly and even wouldn't help me in my times of need unless you dragged him into it. I realize that now. I remember when I hit thirteen and you helped me, but Eddy just sat around and whined about wanting to do his latest scam." He smiled up at Edd. "You helped me with everything, even stayed there for almost a month until I had gotten everything under control. ...You were always there for me, Double D."

Edd smiled at him. "I'll always be there for you, Ed," he said. "No matter how cheesy that sounds, I will. Always. I really, really care about you, Ed, I just, er.." He paused and rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. "I uh.. I'm having some issues figuring out how exactly to say all of this."

Ed's smile turned into a puzzled look, instead of just asking what he meant, he said, "Well, take your time, Double D. When you're ready, you'll be ready. Just like you always tell me when I have something to say and yet can't say it." He smiled at him again and patted him on the head. "You know, I always liked your hair."

Edd turned a little pink at this. "I hope I'll have things figured out soon. ..My hair? Really?"

"Mhmmmm." Ed affirmed and wrapped an arm around him, his expression turning back to that affectionate gaze again.

Edd turned a little more pink and stuttered. "Um, thanks," he managed to say. "You have very nice hair, too." Good god, the fluttery feeling was back again, and this time it brought lovely friends by the names of 'wait, am I gay?' and 'I guess I might be bisexual, or.. something like that.'

Ed continued to smile at his friend, and hugged him closer. "Aww, Double Deeee. No matter what, I will always love youuuuu." He then kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks for the hot cocoa and for being so sweet to me."

Edd blushed some more and smiled at him. "You're welcome, Ed," he looked at him for a little bit before speaking again. "You know, Ed, I.. um.. I.." he hesitated and glanced around the room, his awkward nature getting the best of him again. His eyes landed on the present on the table and he picked it up. "I think I should open this." Good save. He smiled sheepishly.

Ed only smiled at him and waited for him to open his presents.

Edd fumbled with the wrapping paper on the presents, hands shaking with nerves a little too much for him to do so much as get the ribbons off.

Ed watched with anticipation, hoping inside that Edd would at least appreciate his gifts for him.

Edd fiddled with the wrapping some more, having succeeded in at least getting the ribbon off. However, Ed hugging him as close as he was and being.. well, Ed, was making him very shy and stuttery and nervous, and along with that came incredibly shaky hands. He laughed a little and looked at Ed, holding up the little boxes. "Um.. can you help with these?"

Ed smiled some more and said; "Okay, Double D." And started to help him open them.

Edd looked into the little boxes and got that wide-eyed look again. He looked up at Ed and stuttered out some sort of shocked gibberish, unable to formulate a proper sentence. "Ed, this stuff is.. this stuff is wonderful," he breathed, looking at the gifts. He picked up the fancy watch out of its box and put it on, watching the second hand tick around. He smiled at Ed and got up, going across the room and hanging the handmade ornament of love on his family's tree. He sat back down and turned the locket over in his hands, looking at it like a happy little child who received a new toy. "This is lovely, Ed," he said. "And it's a heart and everything... I think I know what I'm going to put in here." He leaned against Ed and smiled up at him.

Ed continued to smile at Edd, he was happy again now that Edd was smiling. He held the smaller boy closer to him and said, "Merry Christmas, Double D!"

Edd scooted closer to him and smiled again."Merry Christmas to you, too," he said. He thought for a few minutes and looked up at the other boy again. "You know, I.. I think I'm in love with you, mister Edward."

Ed's eyes grew wide and he looked at him. "Re-really, Double D?" He asked, his heart fluttered more than ever.

Edd nodded. "I do believe so," he said. He thought it over for a second, then nodded again. "Yes, I do."

Ed grin widened and he pulled Edd into his lap and held him closer than ever before. "I love you, Double D! I really and for truly do!"

Edd squeaked in surprise at finding himself suddenly seated in the taller boy's lap, but this was soon replaced by a nice, warm fuzzy feeling that had to be another friend of the fluttery. He wrapped his arms around Ed and laid his head on the other's chest, smiling. "I love you, too, Ed," he said. He smiled up at him and laughed a little. "Took me long enough, didn't it?"

Ed continued to smile and said, "Hmmm. I dunno, Double D, but this is the best Christmas gift I've ever gotten."

"Well then, I guess I'm right on schedule." Edd leaned on him again before sitting up and looking at him with a serious expression. "Your face," he said. "You're hurt, he hit you didn't he, oh I'm sorry I should've gotten you some ice first!" Fret fret.

**To be continued...**


	4. The aftermath and the conclusion!

**Description:** It's Christmas Even and the Eds are invited to a party over a Nazz's, just like every year, only this time things will be different. This takes on in the future when the Eds are older teenagers and are about to finish school.

**Warning:** SLASH! Lots of it. Do not read if you don't like it.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Ed, Edd, n' Eddy.

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**Ed's Christmas Gift!**

**Written by Lor and Tiffy**

Next day, Christmas morning. They had fallen asleep on the couch late the night before, and now Edd woke up to the sounds of cheerful music blaring from the alarm clock on the table beside the couch. Why they had an alarm clock there he didn't know, but the sticky note stuck upon it that read "wake up on time, 3 Mom" answered the question. He blinked and reached over, pressing the button and turning the alarm off. He got up, careful not to wake Ed, and went into the kitchen to see if any other notes had accumulated during the night. His parents must have returned home after they'd fallen asleep, and were probably asleep upstairs now. They didn't work on Christmas, but they weren't up right on time like Edd was. A quick survey of the kitchen and he found no notes questioning why Ed was there, of mentioning Ed much at all other than "make your friend some breakfast, 3 Mom," which made him feel a little less worried. His parents probably didn't guess anything close to why their son was asleep in another boy's arms, and if they did, they didn't mind. Ed was there every Christmas, after all. Edd went back into the living room and got a blanket out of a cabinet under the tv, going over and laying it down on Ed snugly. He sat down on the couch again and petted Ed's hair absentmindedly, flicking on the tv and watching the Christmas parade on mute. Breakfast could wait a little while, Ed needed his sleep.

As Edd sat there and waited, loud knocking was heard as well as the over use of Edd's doorbell.

Edd blinked and bit his lip. This probably wasn't going to be in the Christmas spirit, but he got up and went over to the door anyway. He undid the lock and opened the door just a crack, peering out at whoever was there. "Who is it?" he said timidly.

"It's me, Sockhead!" came a familiar discontentful voice.

Edd made a tiny noise that was a slight mixture of worriment and fear. "Um, hi," he said. "What brings you here..?"

"We need to talk." Was Eddy's instant reply.

Edd paused. "Alright then," he said hesitantly. "Go ahead."

Eddy gave him a look that meant "what the fuck" and said; "Aren't you gonna invite me in?"

"That depends," Edd said nervously. "Are you going to do something mean?"

Eddy decided to avoid that subject and continued about what he wanted to talk about. "It's about Ed."

"What about Ed?" Edd still hadn't opened the door any wider, hoping that Ed was still asleep on the couch in the room behind him.

"About Lumpy, I'm sorry that I upsetted you both last night." Eddy said, avoiding eye contact with anyone. "You're right, I haven't been acting the friend that I should've been. I'm sorry I hit the guy, too. It's just...I have so much pressure on me with my mom and dad always worshipping my brother, talking about how popular he is and yet no matter how hard I try I still don't add up to him, not even close to a half." He sighed out loud. "And I also wanted to tell you that Sarah isn't happy with Ed one bit, and Rolf's gone off the deep end about the whole thing himself...God it's freezing out here..."

Edd looked at him. "...Fine, come on in," he said, standing aside and opening the door. "And I don't know what in the world Rolf could possibly be unhappy about... Sarah, maybe, because he is her brother and all, but Rolf? Honestly."

Eddy walked right in and looked at him. "Rolf thinks Lumpy's diseasing the whole neighborhood. You know how his people are. Strange, yet can't accept things over here as much." He sighs again. "Sarah's looking for Ed, Double D, and she ain't happy either." He looks around and spots Ed sleeping on the couch. "I see that he must've stayed here last night. Figures. He wasn't his or my house."

"Rolf's culture does leave some things to be desired," Edd agreed. "Sarah shouldn't come in here if she's going to tear the place apart again, I got two whole handfuls of sticky notes last time, and they were the small kind, too." He looked over at Ed on the couch, then back at Eddy. "I invited him to stay here."

Eddy bit his bottom lip and stared at Ed, who appeared to be twitching a little bit, his face in a frightened grimace. Ed was having another bad nightmare again, as usual. "Like anything's gonna stop her, Double D. The way she talked, well, screamed, she's gonna tear Ed limb from limb."

Edd's face paled. Sarah wasn't so cruel as to truly tear Ed apart, but she would break a few bones and have no remorse if she wanted to. "What for? Ed doesn't want to go back there anyway, what other problem could she possibly have?"

Eddy looked at his friend and asked; "Do you remember the time we read her diary when we were twelve?"

Edd thought for a minute. "Um.. yes."

Eddy continued; "She still has that crush on you."

If it was humanly possibly for any more color to drain from the poor boy's face, it would have. He stared at Eddy for a few minutes before speaking. "But.. but why hurt Ed? Why does she think she even has a chance with, um, with.." He paled a little more at the thought. "With me? Why meee?"

Eddy shrugged and went; "Beats me sock-head. Sarah's just one messed up confusing little bitch." He looked at Ed again, "Good thing you two aren't boyfriends or she'll really hurt him then."

Edd gulped and rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, well..."

Eddy blinked and looked back at him. "Well, what?"

Well, you see, we.. um.. well you see we're, er, with the.. with the love and the.. the love and.. yeah," Smooth, Edd. Real smooth.

Eddy blinked at him some more, then snerked. "You two are boyfriends, aren't you? You're actually going out?"

Edd blushed a little. "Well we haven't really 'gone out' anywhere, but.. yes."

Eddy started to chuckle.

Edd gave him a look. "What's so funny?"

"You dog, you!" He teased, laughing, socking him gently in the shoulder. "I knew you had to be gay, too! ...Well, that or bi."

Edd blushed again and rubbed his shoulder. "That hurt, Eddy," Wimp. He went over and sat down on the couch next to Ed, looking over at Eddy again. "...Am I that obvious?" Though the real question probably was 'If I'm that obvious, is Sarah really that stupid?'

"Yeah, pretty much." Eddy answered. "You and Ed are both. ...Sarah is just stupid."

Edd nodded. "Ah, I thought as much," he said. "So, um.. what do we do if she shows up here? I don't want her to hurt Ed, but I'm.. me. I can't really.. do much."

"Psh, tell me about it." Eddy snorted. "Weeeell, I would say hide, but that wouldn't do any good. I guess run away from her when you two see her. You know if she's gonna hurt one of us, she's gonna hurt us all. ...Too bad Lumpy there is too soft-hearted, he could kick her ass if he really wanted to."

Edd looked at Eddy with a worried face before looking at the sleeping Ed and whining a little. "I don't want any of us to get hurt," he said, petting Ed's hair again.

"Well, neither do I, Double D." Eddy said. "I just wish the bitch would just choke on a hairball or some--" A loud bang on the door interrupted him from finishing. "What the fuck!" He said as the door rattled and shoot violently and then flung itself open. God, Eddy wished that Edd locked the door for there she stood, hissing and growling, eyes glowing like the fires of Hell. "WHERE IS HE!" Sarah hissed, looking around for her older brother whom she spotted lying on the couch, still asleep.

Edd made a frightened noise and wrapped his arms around Ed, staring at Sarah. "Don't you dare touch him!" he whimpered across the room. "Get out of my house!"

Sarah stared at Edd and gave him the most disgusted, yet, horrified crossed between murderous look she could conjure up. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?" She yelled.

"I-I s-said stay away from him!" Edd stuttered, terrified. "Leave us alone!"

Sarah growled profoundly, and stomped over anyway. "Don't you tell me what to do, Double D!" And with that, she shoved him away and grabbed her brother by his hair. Poor Ed woke up, screaming in pain and in confusion and blinked up at his sister. "SARAH!" He whimpered. "Please don't hurt me, little sis! I didn't do anything!" Sarah's gaze harshened and hissed in a venomous tone; "LIAR! You did do something bad! You did the worse thing anyone could possibly do to me! You ruined our family name and you tried to get with my muse! YOU BIG DUMBASS! I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO RIP YOU APART!" She then paused and said in a sickening, fake sweet tone. "Oh, and daddy and mommy said to get your things packed. You're gonna live at your cousin's from now on." Ed just stared at his sister in hurt and then began to cry. Sarah then slapped him and started her charade of beating the tar out of him.

Edd staggered up off the floor and stared at Sarah. "You horrible person!" he shouted, running at her and managing to knock her down only because he was a little bit taller. "Leave him alone! Leave us alone! I hate you and I love Ed. Yeah, I LOVE him, and I hate YOU, you stupid BITCH." He glared at her, too angry that someone could be so horrible to someone else like that to notice he'd said a 'bad word.' He grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled, unable to think straight after seeing what she'd been trying to do to poor Ed.

Ed lied there on the floor now, curled up in a ball, crying to himself as he held his badly bleeding nose which his little sister had broken, the rest of him felt pretty bad as well and he might even have a few broken ribs and other bones. Sarah just continued to scream and tried to attack poor Eddward now, screaming about how her hopes and dreams of being with the guy were now shattered and it was all Ed's fault! Eddy just stood there and watched in awe. "Wow, Double D." He said, but then Sarah turned around and started smacking him around as well, Eddy fighting back. "DAMMIT, YOU BITCH! QUIT IT!"

Edd scrambled away from Eddy and Sarah and went over to Ed, pulling him close to him and hugging him tight. "Come on Ed, let's go upstairs," he whispered. "Come on, shh, we'll get you cleaned up in a hurry, let's go.." He got up, pulling poor Ed to his feet and helping him walk up the stairs, going as quickly as he could without making too much noise. He gave Eddy a look over his shoulder that said "sorry, but my boyfriend is bleeding a lot, you're on your own right now" and took Ed up to his room, closing the door behind them and locking it. Safe. For the time being. Now if Eddy could just think to keep her distracted downstairs for a little while, he could deal with this. First, Ed. He led the boy over to his bed and told him to lay down, flitting around his room looking for a phone.

Ed shook and held his nose, still crying and still badly bleeding. It wasn't too long and he started to feel lightheaded and dizzy, feeling like he was gonna black out any time soon. Meanwhile downstairs, Eddy and Sarah were beating the crap out of each other. It was a good thing Eddy too weight training, because now he had the upper hand over the ruthless bitch, FINALLY. He growled as Sarah tried to claw his eyes out. "No, you don't, bitch!" He then dragged her by her hair and threw her out of the house. "AND STAY OUT." And slammed and locked Double D's house's front door. Eddy found himself chuckling, smirking proudly to himself, not carring about the black eye he had at that current moment. "I always wanted to do that."

Upstairs, Edd heard the door slam and rushed out to the top of the stairs. "Eddy!" he called down. "If she comes back in, call the police! And right now call the doctor!" And with that, he dashed down to the kitchen, grabbed some wet paper towels and a few ice packs out of the freezer, and ran back up to his room. He rushed over and sat down on the bed, wiping the blood off of Ed's face with the towels and laying an ice pack gently on his nose to dull the pain. "Eddy's going to call the doctor, Ed," he said softly, stroking Ed's hair. "The doctor's going to fix your nose up and when he asks what happened, maybe we can get Sarah arrested, or sent away for a while."

Ed just moaned and replied; "I don't feel too well, Double D."

"Shhh," Edd said. "It's alright, Eddy's calling the doctor."

Ed looked at his boyfriend sadly. "Whatever happens, Double D..."

Edd hugged him close and sniffled. "Ed, I love you. You're going to be okay. It's just a broken nose."

Ed sighed and continued; "Don't arrest my sister, Double D. I don't want to be responsible. I don't want to see her wind up in a cell. P-please."

Edd brushed Ed's hair off his face. "Alright, Ed," he said. "I won't. I won't say she did this to you. But the doctor is going to ask what happened, and someone has to be blamed for this.."

Ed thought for a second, feeling all woozy as he tried to answer, "Just say I fell and broke my nose that way."

Edd hugged him close again. "Okay. I'll tell them that." He got up and stuck his head out of the room and called downstairs. "Eddy! Are the doctors here yet?"

Eddy looked up, waiting at the door. "Nooooope." Then he heard the sirens go off outside. "...Now they're here."

A loud thudding noise is heard from upstairs.

Edd jumped and looked back into his room. "Ed?"

And there was Ed, pretty much lying there on Edd's floor, passed out from all of the blood loss, nose still bleeding.

Edd made a horrified noise and ran over, pulling Ed up off the floor and trying to stop his nose from bleeding with one hand and half-piggy back him out of the room with the other. He got to the top of the stairs and called down for help, looking frantic.

---

Later, after being rushed to the hospital, the doctors X-rayed and examine Ed's body to see where if there was any other massive hemorrhages besides the broke blood vessels in his nose, and there were. So, very quickly, they rushed him back into the emergency room and began to operate on the poor unconscious boy.

Edd sat in the waiting room and sniffled, worried.

Eddy sat there beside his friend and waited as well, bored out of his mind and eating M&M's. He looked over at his spaztic friend and asked; "Want one?"

Edd shook his head and sniffled again. "I don't think I can stomach anything right now," he said, looking at the floor.

"Oh." Was Eddy's reply. "Sorry." And he continued to wait and looked around for any signs of anything interesting to happen. Several hours later, the doctor came out of the room and looked at them.

Edd continued to sniffle at the floor, too worried to notice much else.

The doctor cleared his throat to gain their attention. "...You may see him now."

Edd looked up at him. "Is he okay oh god he's okay right!"

The doctor smiled. "Yes, he made it, barely by a hair, but he does have broken bones and those will take time to heal. He'll be having to stay for at least a week here, just in case if bleeding should occure again, and he'll be loaned a wheelchair until his casts can be removed."

Edd gave a little squeak of relief and scrambled out of his seat and over to the doctor. "Where's his room I have to see him now!"

"Right this way." The doctor said and lead Edd and Eddy to where Ed will be occupying for the rest of the week. Once there, the doctor opened the door and let them in. "You two have a nice holiday." And with that he left.

Edd dashed into the room and over to Ed's bedside, clinging to his hand and hugging his arm tight. "Oh Ed I was so worried I'm so glad you're okay!"

Ed looked up at him and smiled all cheery-like. "Hey, Double D!"

Edd threw his arms around Ed and hugged him tight, kissing him all over his face. "I love you I love you I'm so glad you're alright oh god Ed." He hugged him again.

Ed smiled so brightly, like he was the spirit of Christmas himself. He hugged Edd close and said; "I love you, too, Double D. I really and for truly do. And look. The doctor gave us christmas cookies!" He pointed to the decorative boque of Christmas cookies wrapped up in a fancy basket. Eddy looked at them and comment, "Neat." Ed looked at him and kept smiling. "Hey, Eddy." Eddy smiled and replied, "Hey, Lumpy." Ed continued to smile and wished out loud, "Merry Christmas, Eddy!" "Merry Christmas to you, too, you knucklehead."

Edd, slightly more calm now that Ed was, in fact, doing just fine, continued to hug him and looked up at him from his odd position of half-sitting on the floor. "So, what are you going to do when the week is up, Ed?" And now the issue of Ed's living conditions arose again. Edd didn't want to say it because he thought it sounded pretty selfish, but he wanted Ed to stay with him, in his house, but Sarah's mention of a cousin of their's might interfere with that.

Ed looked at him and frowned. "I dunno, Double D." He looked sadly down at his casts and wraps.

Edd reached up and smoothed Ed's hair in a comforting sort of way. "Well, your parents seem to want you to live.. wherever it is your cousin lives, but I.. I want you to say with me."

Ed smiled at him sadly. "I want to stay with you, too. Maybe we can both live together."

"I'd like that," Edd said. "And.. do you really have to listen to your parents anymore? We're almost out of high school, Ed, and they.. don't treat you right. They shouldn't keep getting away with it."

Ed thought about it for a moment or two and shook his head, hugging Double D as close as he can. "No, no, I don't, Double D. ...I love you."

Edd hugged him back, wiggling his way up so he was sitting on the edge of the bed. "I love you too, Ed. And.. and I want you to stay with me. Even if we have to pool all our money and see if we can rent an apartment, or something. Or we could just stay at my house."

Ed continued to smile at his lover. "Both sound good to me, Double D."

Edd smiled and played with Ed's hair a little, affectionately. "I'm sure my parents won't mind," he said. "I've been getting some sticky notes recently that seem to be implying that I really am as obviously not completely or just not straight at all like Eddy said. Huh. ..But yes, I think my parents would be okay with it as long as I don't shirk on my chores, or anything."

Ed hugged him close and petted his head some. "I'm happy, Double D. This is tha happiest I've ever been and it's all thanks to you, my little Christmas present." He kisses him and Eddy snickers to himself about how sappy the Lump can be and Ed continued to be kissy.

Edd blushed and kissed him back, hoping he was doing it right because he was that much of a dork, on the inside. He shot Eddy a sideways look of "shut up, you" and continued kissing.

And Eddy just smirked and said; "I'll just leave you two love birds alone." And walked out of the room. Ed pulled Edd closer and continued to kiss him.

Edd scooted closer to him and kissed him back some more. This had turned out to be a pretty good Christmas after all.

And indeed it was, for the both of them. Both had received the greatest presents they could ever gotten, each other.

**THE END!**

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CREDITS!

Written by both Lor and Tiffy

END OF CREDITS!

Thank you very much for reading and please do review.


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